Join the ISA and The Writers Guild Foundation for this conversation about breaking into writers rooms. We will talk with working writers and alum of the WGF Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program to hear about their paths to breaking in and finding success. We will learn about the importance of the writers assistant and script coordinator jobs and how they can start your journey into a writers room.

Time Stamps:
0:22 - Announcements from ISA
2:07 - Panel introduction
4:02 - How did the panellists start their career paths?
4:27 - Clap Lapari's path
7:40 - Debbie Ezer's path
11:07 - Yousif Nash's path
14:08 - How to "make the leap" to being staffed
17:45 - Using life experience as an asset
20:05 - Using cultural experience as an asset
22:45 - The job of a writer's assistant
25:51 - The job of a script coordinator
29:54 - What does the writer's assistant do with notes?
31:10 - Writing positions can be overwhelming
33:27 - Writer's Access Support Staff Training Program
37:34 - Tips for applying to the WASSTP
41:46 - WASSTP application information
44:55 - WASSTP from personal experience (Yousif)
48:19 - What happens after you graduate from the WASSTP?
54:41 - How to stay active as a writer during the WGA strike
58:44 - Writing freelance episodes
1:02:18 - Applying to WASSTP as a non-LA resident
1:04:20 - Advice for emerging writers 1:10:14 - Final thoughts and conclusion

Panelists include Clay Lapari, Debbie Ezer, Yousif Nash and Lynn Maleh.

Clay Lapari is a long time Script Coordinator/Writers Assistant with credits including Community, WandaVision, and the iCarly Reboot.

Debbie Ezer is a writer who has also worked as a Script Coordinator and Writers' Assistant in Television on network and cable dramas as well as single-camera and multi-camera comedies. She is a recovering attorney (having practiced as a litigator), former SAT math instructor and retired improv comedy performer who always endeavors to present the material in an organized, efficient and hopefully entertaining fashion.

Yousif Nash is a son of Iraqi immigrants, an Air Force veteran, and a huge nerd. He received an MFA in TV Writing and Screenwriting from Stephens College, completed the WGF Veterans Writing Project (which he still volunteers for to this day), and the Writers Access Support Staff Training Program. He held multiple internships, was a writers PA on Legacies, a script coordinator on True Lies, and now he's a writers' assistant on The Greatest, a Muhammad Ali series on Amazon. He typically writes about his military experience through the sci-fi and fantasy genres, or about nerds who are suffering from the normalities of life.

Called "up-and-coming" by the LA Times, Lynn Maleh is a Syrian-American writer and standup comedian. After being accepted into the WGA’s Writers Access Support Staff Training Program, she served as the Writers’ Assistant on Netflix’s Waffles and Mochi and Bounce TV’s Act Your Age, where she was given the opportunity to co-write an episode. She's written for The Onion, Reductress, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency and has performed on Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen, The Second City Diversity Festival, The Westside Comedy Festival, and a few times in Brad Pitt's old backyard. She co-created and co-produces Hilarious Habibis, the first ever Middle Eastern-only standup showcase at The Hollywood Improv.

The Writers Guild Foundation
Since 1966, the Foundation has been the premier Hollywood resource for emerging writers and entertainment lovers. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Writers Guild Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the history and craft of writing for the screen. We’re proud of all we do for the community, including our Veterans Writing Project, our Volunteer and Mentorship Programs, our Archive, and the Shavelson-Webb Library – the world’s only library devoted entirely to writing for the screen. www.wgfoundation.org

Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program
The Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program is a first-of-its-kind initiative to support the full inclusion and employment of underrepresented groups in the television industry. The program’s mission is to provide writers who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled writers, and writers over the age of 50, with tools and education to become a writers’ assistant and script coordinator, ultimately resulting in meaningful employment opportunities.